After surgery to repair the torn ligament in June, Mariano Rivera signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Yankees in November. / Anthony Gruppuso, USA TODAY Sports

by Ted Berg, USA TODAY Sports

by Ted Berg, USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK ‚?? Nine months removed from the knee injury that cost him most of his 2012 season, closer Mariano Rivera is ready and eager to return to the field when New York Yankees pitchers and catchers report to Tampa for Spring Training on Feb. 13.

Rivera, the all-time major league leader in saves, threw Monday as part of his normal offseason training program.

"I'm throwing a little bit, I'm running," he said. "Once I get there, the weather will be better, and the time will be the right time to start pushing the legs. I have six more weeks to get ready, so I have all confidence that everything will be fine."

Rivera's manager echoed the pitcher's confidence.

"I would expect him to be fully ready to go," Joe Girardi said. "But I don't think that you're really completely relieved until you see [rehabbing players] go through games."

Girardi indicated that he'd defer to Rivera when deciding his Grapefruit League pitching schedule.

"I think you kind of play that by ear," he said. "You leave that up to him. We don't have plans for him to pitch the first game."

After only nine appearances in 2012, Rivera tore the ACL in his right knee on May 3 while shagging fly balls in the outfield, part of his pre-game ritual. In Rivera's absence, the Yankees handed their ninth-inning duties to Rafael Soriano. Soriano succeeded in the role, converting 42 of 46 save opportunities and posting a 2.26 ERA, then signed a two-year free-agent contract with the Washington Nationals in January.

Rivera, who suggested to reporters before the 2012 campaign that it would be his last season in baseball, scrapped his retirement plans as soon as he hurt himself.

"It never crossed my mind," he said, when asked if he considered allowing the injury to end his career. "Never."

After surgery to repair the torn ligament in June, Rivera inked a one-year, $10 million contract with the Yankees in November, maintaining his status as the elder statesman on a team near certain to repeat as the oldest club in baseball.

But even at 43 and likely to be the oldest active player in the game come Opening Day, Rivera doesn't expect to lighten up his training to accommodate his advancing age.

"I don't expect to do anything different," he said, adding, "I'll tell you what: I will do whatever it takes to be ready. So if my regimen has to change, I will do it."